1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to to a self-propelled manure-removal vehicle, having at least two wheels, at least one motor and a control device for displacing the vehicle in a desired direction of movement by driving at least one of the wheels, a tank for storing manure comprising a bottom having a lowest level, a side wall and an upper part, having an air discharge near the upper part and having a manure supply opening and a manure discharge opening, a vacuum pump which is connected to the control device and designed to apply a reduced pressure to the tank via the air discharge, and a manure-collecting device having a floor-scraping part which, viewed in the intended direction of travel, narrows to a closed end, wherein the manure supply opening, viewed in the intended direction of travel, is situated in front of the floor-scraping part and is at least partly surrounded by the floor-scraping part.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such vehicles are known in the prior art. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 7,797,789 describes a vehicle comprising a V-shaped scraper with a manure-suctioning feature at the tip of the scraper. The manure is suctioned into a tank via an inlet on the front side. By reversing the pump action, the manure is pumped out on the rear side of the tank via a discharge opening. To this end, the pump is provided with a reversing valve.
A drawback of the known device is that it is unnecessarily complex and, in particular, contains an excessive number of moving parts, such as the valve. This is a drawback, in particular with the greatly soiling environment of manure-collecting vehicles.